T5 B61 AG Anti-Terrorism Plan Fdr- 9-17-01 Ashcroft Memo- Anti-Terrorism Plan 206

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    U.S. Department of JusticeOffice of Legislative Affairs

    Off ice of the Assistant Attorney General Washington, D.C. 20530

    June 25, 2004

    Dan Marcus, General CounselNational Comm ission on Terrorist AttacksUpon the United States2100 K Street, NW , Su ite 300Wa shington, DC 20036Dear M r. Marcus:

    This supplements our prior responses to the Comm ission's Document Request No . 9 tothe Depa rtment, which requested docume nts in 17 itemized categories.Enclosed is a five page of document that was provided by the Depa rtment's Executive

    Office fo r United States Attorneys in response to Item 1 of this Request. This document wasinadvertently omitted from the Department's previous p roductions in response to this Requestand we are providing it today although it has not yet been formally processed. We will provide aBates stamped version if you so request at a later time.

    I hope that this information is helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you wouldlike additional assistance regarding this or any other m atter.

    Sincerely,

    William E. MoschellaA ssistant A ttorney Ge neral

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    ( O f f i c e of % J V t f a r n e g, B. ( . 2 0 J 5 3 D

    September 17, 2 0 0 1

    M E M O R A N D U M FOR ALL UNITED STATES ATTORNEYSFROM:SUBJECT: ANTI-TERRORISM PLAN

    Last Tuesday m arked a tu rningpoint in this country's fight againstterrorism. That m ornin g,the forces of terrorism attacked the citizens of our country with a ferocity that w as nothing short ofadec la ra t ionofwar against the Am erican people. The President of the Un ited States has announcedthat w e will meet that declaration with a full commitmen t of resources and with a firm resolve to ridth e world of terrorism. The fight against terrorism mu st be our first and overriding priority.

    A s the 1995 bom bing in Oklahom a City and the events of last week clearly dem onstrated,much of the terrorism directed at American citizens is orchestrated and carried out by personsresiding in our country people who enjoy th e blessings of our free societyyet committhemselvesto its destruction. W e in law enforcement mu st do everything within our power to apprehend thosepersons and to eradicate the forces of terrorism in our country. The m em ory of those who fell lastweek and our sworn duty to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against allenemies, foreign and domestic" d eman d that we dedicate ourselves to this mission .Accordingly , I hereby direct every United States Attorney to co m mit all availab le resourcesandmanpower to our national mission againstterrorism, and I instruct each United States At torney'sOffice to imp lemen t th e fo l lowing m easures to enhance our capacity to combat terrorism:(1 ) Implement the Department's Anti-Terrorism Plan. The guid ing principle of thisenforcement plan is the prevention of future terrorism through the dismantling ofterrorist organizations operating within th e United States. This plan focuses onpreventing terrorism by arresting an d detainin g violators who have been identifiedas persons w ho participate in, or lend support to , terrorist activities. Federal la wenforcement agencies and the United States Attorneys' Offices will use everyavailable law enforcement tool to incapacitate these ind iv iduals and theirorganizations.P) Establish an Anti-Terrorism TaskForce within each district. At my direction, eachUnited Sta tesAttorney 'sOff ice lastweek identified one experiencedprosecutorwhowill serve as the Anti-Terrorism Coordinator fo r that district. That Coordinator is toconvene a meeting of representatives from the federal law e nforcem ent agencies ~including the FBI, INS, DBA, Custom s Service, M arshals Service, Secret Service

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    and ATF and the prima ry state and local police forces in that district.' That groupwill constitute the Anti-Terrorism Task Force in each district.These task forces will be part of a national network that will coordinate th edisseminat ion of information and the development of investigative and prosecutivestrategy througho ut the country. The efforts of each task force will be coordinatedby theAnti-Terrorism Coordinatorin that district. Each Anti-Terrorism Coordinatorwill, in turn, coordinate with a Nationa l An ti-Terrorism C oordinator in the Terrorism& Violent Crime Section of the Crimina l Division. The National Anti-TerrorismCoordinators will be assigned by region of the country, and they will have primaryresponsibility for coordinating activities within their assig ned region and integratingthose activities into the Department's national anti-terrorism strategy.The creation of these Anti-Terrorism Task Forces and their coordination on anational level w ill serve several purposes. First, these task forces will be a conduitof inform ation about suspected terrorists betwe en the fed eral and local agencies.Intelligence about terrorist networks obtained by federal agencies will bedisseminated through these task forces to the local police officials who can helpmonitor those networks in their localities. Also, intelligence developed by localpolice will be conveyed th rough this collaboration to the federal agencies.Second, th e Anti-Terrorism Task Force in each district w ill serve as a coordinatingbody fo r implement ing th e operational plan for the prevention of terrorism. Onceinformation is received in dica ting that in div idu als or groups of in divid uals in aparticular district are terrorists or supporters of terrorism, th e m em b er s of the Anti-Terrorism Task Force, in conjun ction with the ir Na tional A nti-TerrorismCoordinator , wil l determine and implement th e most effective strategy fo rincapacitating them.Third, the Anti-Terrorism Task Force in each district will serve as a standingorganizational structure for a coordinated response to a terrorist incident in thatdistrict.In sum, th e implementat ion of task forces coordinated by the U nited States A ttorneyin each district will provide the operational foundation for a concerted nationalassault against terrorism. With th e Crim inalD ivision provid ing centralized strategicguidance and the task forces tailoring th e strategy to the circumstances of eachdistrict, this system will provide la w enforcement with a comprehensive and

    In those districts wh ich fall within the jurisdiction of one of the Joint Terrorism TaskForces, representatives of those task forces should participate as members of the Anti-TerrorismTask Force in each district.

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    seamless approach to attack terrorism w ithin our borders.The task forces w ill be receiving clear guidance from the Department on an ongoingbasis. The Deputy Attorney General and the Assistant Attorney General for theCr imina l D ivisio n held a teleconference today with all United States Attorneys andAnti-Terrorism Coordinators in whic h they discussed the Department 's immediateanti-terrorismstrategy an d provided guidance fo r establishingthe task forces in eachdistrict. T he Department will be distributing materials about th e mission andmethods of the task forces. Also, a national conference of the Coordinators will beheld at the National Advocacy Center, at which representatives of the AttorneyGeneral and the FBI Director w ill detail th e operationalplan fo r terrorism preventionan d provide briefings about th e terrorist activities in each region of the cou ntry.

    (3 ) Provide regular reports on anti-terrorism activities. Each district is to reportregularly on the activities of its Anti-Terrorism Task Force. EOUSA will developan d distribute a template for that report, and the reports w ill be com piled for reviewby the Deputy Attorney General, th e Assistant Attorney General or th e CriminalDivis ion and my self. T hese reports will be closely reviewed to ensure that the Anti-Terrorism Task Forces around th e country are properly structured and staffed, andthat they m aintain their focus and effectiveness over t ime.

    (4 ) Appoint an immigration coordinator. Each district is to app oint an Assistant UnitedStates Attorney to act as the district 's liaison with th e Immigrat ionand NaturalizationService and to oversee the han dling of all imm igration cases brought as a result ofthis anti-terrorism plan.(5 ) Implement the Anti-Terrorism Plan by thefollowing deadlines:

    a. Each districtwas to appoint an Anti-Terrorism C oordinatorb y September 13 ,2001 .b. Each district is to design ate an im m igration coord inator by noon September

    18,2001.c. The A nti-Terrorism Co ordinator in each district is to convene a m eeting ofthe Anti-Terrorism Task Force by close of business September 18,2001 .d. The Anti-Terrorism Coordinator is to submit the first report on the activitiesof the task force by close of business September 24,2001 .

    Ilmderstand that this is an aggressive an d ambitious agenda, and that it represents a changein the m anner of d oing business in the United States Attorneys' Offices. W e m ust all recognize,however, that our mission has changed w ith th e events of last week . The threat that seemed fairly

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    remote to most Americans six days ago is now felt in every heart and in every home in the UnitedStates. If we h ope to dispel this threat, we must meet it with in genuity and determination. I callupon each of you to commit yourselves a nd your offices to this mission. The security of the nationdemands such a commitment.